Lieutenant Colonel Luke Weathers Jr. was the first African-American Air Traffic Controller for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) based at the Memphis International Airport (MEM). Lt. Col. Luke Weathers Jr., was also a part of the Tuskegee Airmen, a pioneering group of black fighter pilots. Weathers, who shot down two German fighters that were attacking the U.S. bombers he was escorting, served from 1942-1945. He, along with 300 other Tuskegee Airmen, were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007.

The members of the all-black unit, named for its training base in Tuskegee, Ala., performed so well that they helped push the 1948 decision by President Truman to desegregate the military. To honor his contributions to aviation & aerospace, the all-new Lt. Col. Luke Weathers Jr. Flight Academy (LWFA) has been established at the Olive Branch Airport, just a short drive from his Memphis home.